The regiment saw considerable action during the Northern Virginia Campaign in the late summer, and was engaged in skirmishing during the Second Bull Run operations.

They traveled into Pennsylvania with the division as part of the brigade of Col. Pennock Huey, but before the Battle of Gettysburg withdrew to Westminster, Maryland, to guard the army's supply trains.

After spending the winter fighting Mosby's guerillas, in the spring of 1864 the regiment joined Ulysses S. Grant's movement on Richmond, participating in several battles while serving in the Cavalry Corps, under Gen. Philip H. Sheridan.

It was involved in the Union cavalry operations during the Overland Campaign and the Siege of Petersburg, as well as taking part in the Battle of Trevilian Station.

A stone monument to the regiment stands along Taneytown Road on the Gettysburg Battlefield, which features a relief of a saber-wielding cavalryman mounted on his horse at full gallop.